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June 8, 2016

The bid document was handed over by Vietnamese border guards to L&T in the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar during an industry interaction in Hanoi on Monday. Mr. Parrikar is on a two-day visit to Vietnam from June 5 after attending the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore.

He held a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, General Ngo Xuan Lich where both sides agreed on greater industry-to-industry interaction.

Mr. Parrikar later attended a business roundtable meeting comprising defence industry delegates from the two countries.

Enhanced co-operation

“The meeting focussed on enhancing defence industry networking, information sharing and exploration of possibilities for partnerships and collaborations between the two countries,” according to a Defence Ministry statement. The purchase will be funded through a $100 million Line of Credit (LoC) India had extended to Vietnam for military purchases.

Vietnam has embarked on a major modernisation of its armed forces and both countries operate a wide range of Russian equipment.

A Memorandum of Understanding for the LoC was signed during President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Hanoi in September 2014.

During his visit, Mr. Parrikar also called on the President of Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc.